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Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California

35 Colleges
$57,932 Avg Salary
$27,676 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Public Administration School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,883 degrees and certificates were awarded to public administration students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #58 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 35 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Public Administration program at each school on the list.

Check out the public admin programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in California.

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Northridge the most popular school in California for public administration students. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

After completing their degree, public admin graduates from CSUN carry an average student debt load of $37,500.

Full Public Administration at California State University - Northridge Report

#2

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

The excellent programs at San Diego State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration schools in California. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average amount in student loans that public admin majors at SDSU take out is $15,375.

Read full report on Public Administration at San Diego State University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Public Administration at University of Southern California

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Dominguez Hills landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Carson, CSUDH is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average amount in student loans that public admin majors at CSUDH take out is $17,341.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - Dominguez Hills

#6

National University

La Jolla, CA

With a ranking of #6, National University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for public administration students. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

Public Admin majors at National University take out an average of $30,239 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Public Administration at National University

With a ranking of #7, California State University - San Bernardino did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for public administration students. CSUSB is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of San Bernardino.

After completing their degree, public admin graduates from CSUSB carry an average student debt load of $12,833.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - San Bernardino

#8

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

University of San Francisco did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for public administration students. It came in at #8 on the list. USFCA is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.

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California State University - East Bay ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California list. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

Full Public Administration at California State University - East Bay Report

California State University - Fullerton ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Public Administration Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a very large student population.

After completing their degree, public admin graduates from Cal State Fullerton carry an average student debt load of $12,882.

Read More…

Best Public Administration Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Public Administration Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 297
Oregon 117
Nevada 78
Hawaii 186
Alaska 34

Public Administration is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 58,326
Human Services 13,238
Public Policy 6,430
Community Organization & Advocacy 3,096
Other Public Administration 588

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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